Futuretake/Outtake written for Abby. It's been a long time coming. She wanted to see Riverward's wedding...and some Cap :)
If you haven't read River, you can find the PDF on my WordPress—link on my profile.
Beta'd by HollettLA
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, and in the magical land of FF, there are passports for pigs so they can fly to Mexico.
(If you've recently read the epilogue and Cap's outtake, a few things will make more sense.)
River
And Cap's thinking…I'm clearly the only gangsta' with a swagger here.
Big Guy and Hot Mama don't got no moves, yo.
EPOV
"Yo, cuz!"
"Oh, my God, Edward! Baby, wake up."
"Oh, son. Emmett, throw water on him. The ocean is right there."
"Carlisle! Emmett, don't you dare."
I groan and manage to crack my eyes open a bit, and I see the sky. Blue sky. And a few heads hovering.
Fuck me. I fainted. At my own wedding.
Then I have Cap grunting near my face, and he doesn't look impressed.
Dude, I'm not impressed, either.
Just as Bella was about to say "I do," I dropped like a Belieber at a concert.
It was last year I prop—well, Bella proposed to me…but we've been so busy, and we also wanted to take time to plan a cool wedding. Which brings us to here and now: a beach in Veracruz, Mexico. About fifty people are here—friends, close coworkers, and most importantly, family—and I couldn't handle it.
I'll blame it on being too nervous to eat today. Plus, the sun…I mean, it's really hot.
One might think Bella would faint; she's the one who's pregnant and all, but I guess I drew the short straw. Instead she's looking healthy and not near fainting in her white dress. And gorgeous and fucking beautiful. She's not showing, and we haven't told people yet. We want to wait 'til the first ultrasound.
I bet I'll faint there, too.
"I'm okay," I mutter drowsily.
With Emmett and Dad helping me up, I get back on two feet and brush some sand off my white linen pants. Getting married on a beach allows you to skip the monkey suit, though I'm still wearing a nice shirt and a tie.
"Whoa." I steady myself by grasping Emmett's shoulder, feeling a bit dizzy.
"Dada?" River runs over to me, having escaped my mother. "Dada fall."
"No, I was just tired for a bit, baby," I lie, wanting to be cool in front of my son. "I promise—I didn't fall." He may be only a few months over a year old, but you never know; he might remember this. I gotta be careful.
I ignore Dad and Emmett and my uncle, Em's dad, laughing at me.
Maybe choosing Emmett as best man was a mistake.
"Are you sure you're all right, honey?" Bella asks in concern. "Do you wanna sit down for a bit?"
"No," I laugh, embarrassed. Truth is, I wanna get married right now before Bella can change her mind. "Let's make you a Cullen, baby girl." I pull her to me, River giggling as he's wedged between us.
Cap grunts, and my Dad pulls him away by the leash.
~oOo~
Hours later, I'm back to cool.
We're partying it up at Tyler and Carmen's bed-and-breakfast; the music's loud, the beer is ice cold, the food is amazing, and everyone's having a great time.
The materialistic thing I love the most right now is my wedding band. The ring that has joined Bella's engagement ring, too.
Being married is fucking awesome.
"Are you drunk, Edward?" Bella giggles as I spin her around.
I grin goofily. "Maybe a little." I'm not shitfaced like many others, though. I find myself sticking to only a few beers when Bella's pregnant. Pulling her close as a slower song begins, I wrap my arms around her and speak in her ear. "Are you enjoying the virgin drinks?"
"Definitely." She beams up at me. "Carmen makes the best Sex on the Beach—virgin style."
"Dude," I laugh, "that sounded so weird." Dipping down, I nuzzle our noses together. "You ever had sex on a beach before?"
"Hmm, no." There's definitely mischief in her eyes now. "You might even say I'm a virgin in that aspect."
Score!
"Then we can pop each other's cherries before we go on our honeymoon." I drop a sensual kiss on her neck, nearly groaning when her breathing stutters. It means the wife is totally on board. Then again, she always is. And I can't fucking wait to hole myself up with her in North Dakota. I know, I know, odd choice for a honeymoon, but we figured since we got married on a beach, we could head to a colder climate afterward. Besides, no matter the climate or view, we're not leaving the bed. Or the cabin, in our case. One luxury cabin, one week, a whole lotta fucking. Just me and the missus.
And the bun I put in her oven.
"God, I love you." I cup her cheeks and kiss her hungrily, overcome with utter fucking bliss. I mean, after the start we've had…I'm looking forward to just moving in the right direction now. No running away, no miscommunication, no assuming.
"I love you more," she says, sounding so confident, but it can't be true. "And now I want some more cake."
Dude, me too. Grabbing her hand, I kiss her chastely and then lead her back to our table. Mom and a heavily pregnant Rose are there with River, who's about to fall asleep on Mom's lap. Oh, and Cap's scouring the floor for crumbs. His leash is fastened to my chair.
"The pig keeps licking my feet," Rose complains.
"It's a person," I argue. Bella nods solemnly, agreeing with me, and leans down to pet Cap on the floor. "He has feelings, you know."
In my mind, Cap's this cool-ass thug, but with a soft spot for family. And food. And he protects River from bad guys when I'm not there.
Like…he's my sidekick?
"Please." Rose rolls her eyes, though she's fighting her smile. "I still can't believe you brought him here."
It was very worth it.
"He's family," Bella says simply, then digs in to her cake.
"And you're family, too, baby." I reach for River and hug his half-sleeping body to me. He just mumbles something about "Dada fall," so I shush him and kiss his head.
"What'd he say?" Bella tilts her head and brushes some hair from River's forehead. "You're so tired, sweetie."
"Mmmama…" He yawns and rubs his eyes sleepily. "Dada fmmmlll…" Right. It's a word. "Down…boom."
"Oh, he's just mumbling about Daddy being a superhero," I say.
"I'm sure," Mom chuckles. "You want me to put him down? I'm gonna head to bed, actually, and there's plenty of space in our room."
Bella and I exchange a look, debating. Since we won't see him for a whole week soon, we've decided to spend extra time with him now, but we do have another two days here in Veracruz before we go. And it wouldn't hurt to have some alone time on the wedding night.
"We'll all meet up for breakfast at nine?" Bella suggests.
"Ten." I clear my throat. "What—who said that? Well, all right. Ten sounds good."
"Oh, dude," Bella laughs. "You're so smooth."
I grin. "So…ten?"
Mom giggles and nods. "Ten sounds like a plan."
After smooching all over River, Bella and I hand him over to Mom, who leaves.
"Now we just gotta find a Cap-sitter," I muse.
I look at Rose.
"Don't even think about it!" she cries out. "And don't you dare ask Emmett. That goof will only say yes."
That's sorta the point.
"I'll go ask him!" Bella cracks up again and hurries over to the dance floor where Emmett and Dad are trying to start a conga line. Which looks kinda lame with only those two.
Not to mention gay.
When my wife returns, it's with a smile of triumph, which explains Rose's groan of defeat.
"Cap's good for practice!" I comfort her. "You'll have a kid soon, too. Trust me, Cap is cool."
She looks at me with an incredulous expression. "Did you just compare my unborn daughter with that thing?"
"Rose!" Bella and I stare at her in horror.
How dare she call Captain a "thing"?
"I am so disappointed in you right now." Bella shakes her head at Rose.
I do, too.
"Good God, I can't even—" Rose waves us off and stands up. "I can't with you two."
Bella and I chuckle, watching as she waddles off.
"So…" Bella sighs in contentment and rests her head on my shoulder.
In turn, I kiss the top of her head. "So."
"You think this could be a girl?" She discreetly palms her still-flat belly. "I hope she'll look like you."
I huff a chuckle, not having a preference. The only thing I know is…well…
"I'm just gonna focus on loving him or her—and not freak out when she's born with blue eyes."
Bella gigglesnorts. "Good plan, Cullen. Good plan."
I think so.